Five days later, at the gates of Konoha Village.
"Whew… finally back!"
"You say that like you almost didn't make it back. Better not jinx yourself with that kind of talk."
"Tokuma's training sessions these past few days have been intense. You must be tired, huh?"
Hana laughed. "Aren't we all? It's not like he's the only one suffering. I haven't even started medical ninjutsu yet, and just refining chakra control alone is already driving me crazy."
Izumi scratched her hair. "Same here with the new Fire Release techniques, and figuring out how to properly use the Sharingan. Looks like we've still got a long way to go…"
Nearby, Yun greeted the gate guards and turned to his three students. "Well, we're finally home. From now on, I can train you properly without worrying about travel time."
The three looked at each other, their faces falling.
"So… that means training's going to be even tougher, huh?"
"I was kinda hoping for a few days off…"
"Brother…"
Seeing their pouting faces, Yun clapped his hands and smiled. "To celebrate your first mission outside the village, and a B-rank one at that, we're having a feast at the yakiniku restaurant tonight."
Before they could cheer, Yun continued, "After that, training resumes tomorrow. We'll just take D-rank missions inside the village for a while, so you'll have plenty of time to practice."
"Yes, sir…"
Their sighing made Yun chuckle. They were technically peers in age, but being their teacher did feel pretty good.
After splitting up, Izumi walked home with Yun.
Looking at his back as he walked ahead, she couldn't help but smile.
She remembered how different he used to be when they were younger. Back then, her brother barely spoke to her, or even to their mother.
But suddenly, one day, he had changed. He became reliable, always busy, earning money to help support their mother.
"What are you smiling about?"
Yun stopped and turned, tapping her forehead protector. "Don't tell me you're laughing at me? It's my first time being a teacher, but it's going okay."
Izumi shook her head and held onto his arm. "I just think you're getting more and more dependable. And ever since I turned four, that cold look in your eyes toward me and Mom… it's been gone."
Yun paused, remembering the unease and guilt of those early years, his distance from the mother who raised them alone, the fear that had haunted him every day.
He flicked her forehead lightly and smiled. "You'll have to become reliable too, Izumi. This is the path you chose, no regrets, okay?"
Izumi puffed her cheeks. "I won't regret it. Becoming a ninja to protect you and Mom was my dream since I was little. Just because you're reliable now doesn't mean I'll give up on that!"
'So that's how it was…'
'Even when their family was at its hardest point, Izumi had already made that vow?'
"Izumi," Yun said softly.
"Yeah?"
"If you want to surpass me, it won't be easy. The road to your goal will be full of twists and pain. But…"
"The effort you put in, and the growth that follows, it's all yours. Every day that brings you closer to your dream is your greatest motivation."
Hearing that, Izumi's eyes sparkled with determination.
Yun scratched his head, amused. "Guess even corny advice hits home for kids."
"We're back!"
At the door, their mother, Uchiha Hazuki, hurried out with a warm smile.
"That mission must've been tough, right? You were gone for so many days. Izumi, did you do your best on your first mission outside the village?"
Still changing her shoes, Izumi puffed up her cheeks. "Of course I did! I'm the Uchiha prodigy who awakened two-tomoe Sharingan at twelve! A mission like that's nothing."
Hazuki chuckled, patting her daughter's head. "Izumi's always been talented, but you still have to keep working hard, okay?"
"By the way," she added, turning to Yun, "the clan head came by two days ago. He said to see him as soon as you got back."
'Shisui, huh?'
'If Shisui left such a message, it must be important.'
Yun put down his slippers and sighed. "Alright, I'll go now. We're having a dinner tonight to celebrate my students' first mission, so you don't have to cook."
Hazuki nodded with a smile. "I didn't know you'd be back today anyway. Tomorrow, I'll prepare something special for Izumi's celebration."
"I'm off then."
Yun waved and left the house.
At the Naka River.
A blur, and Yun appeared on the cliffside, looking toward Shisui, who stood gazing at the rushing water.
"You're the one who called me here, yet I had to go hunting for you."
Shisui smiled faintly. "Coming here always calms me. After all… this is where we changed the fate of the Uchiha."
Yun glanced at the river and sighed.
If not for his intervention, that river would've been Shisui's grave. No body left behind, no Edo Tensei resurrection, nothing but tragedy.
"I was only gone eight days. Knowing you, you wouldn't have left a message unless something big happened. So, what's going on?"
He tossed a pebble into the river.
"Sometimes," Yun continued, "political power doesn't depend on strength. But without strength, politics is just like that pebble, washed away and meaningless."
"The current of Naka River, could that pebble possibly stop it? No. Without strength, ideals are just jokes."
Shisui smiled slightly. "Every time we talk, your words always make me think deeply. Me, Itachi, we both feel that way."
He handed over a scroll. "Take a look. Nara Shikaku gave this to Haiichi yesterday. Most of it's Shikaku's speculation from the day before, but events have already begun to match his predictions."
Yun unrolled the scroll and read quickly.
"This handwriting's awful, its not Shikaku's. Did Haiichi wrote it?"
Shisui gave him an exasperated look. "Is that really the part you care about?"
He sighed and explained, "The war with Kumo ended just over a year ago. The Ino-Shika-Cho have only just started assisting the Fourth Hokage. Sending this much intel already shows great trust."
Yun nodded. "Right. Sending it at all is a big favor. The signatures can't matter."
He exhaled. "So… it's those two old fossils again. Homura and Koharu must be running out of influence."
Shisui frowned. "To stir up this much public debate about the First Hokage's power in just days, whoever's behind this must be formidable. And… why only those two advisers? What about the Third?"
Yun shook his head. "Not him. This kind of rumor manipulation takes a certain type of mind. Danzo's Root may be gone, but clearly not all his pawns died with it. Still… things are different now."
"As for the Third, he's indecisive, not insane. Using Hashirama and Madara for political leverage isn't his style."
He smiled faintly. The people of this world were brilliant in battle, but foolish in politics.
He remembered the tragedy of the White Fang, driven to suicide by rumor and misunderstanding, all under the Third Hokage's passive rule.
Danzo's schemes had made sure any rival for the Hokage seat was eliminated.
And now, it seemed the same cycle was beginning again.
He looked back to the scroll.
Day 1: Rumors about the First Hokage's unmatched power spread among villagers and shinobi, complete with "hidden facts" like the creation of the Valley of the End and the taming of the Nine-Tails.
Day 3: A new name enters the gossip, Uchiha Madara. Only he, it is said, could rival the First Hokage, wielding the ultimate Sharingan.
Yun's expression darkened. "So Madara's name is circulating now… The 'ultimate Sharingan' will definitely make people draw dangerous comparisons, to us."
"During the Kumo War, the whole village saw your and Itachi's eyes. Now, it sounds like they're grouping us together with Madara."
Shisui's face grew tense.
Worse still, the newest rumors weren't about legends, they were about Danzo and Orochimaru.
"What kind of power were they experimenting with?" people whispered.
Even civilians were gossiping.
Shisui shivered, remembering the grotesque experiments and the dying Uchiha Hoka. He knew exactly how evil that research had been.
Yun tossed another stone into the river. "Our enemies haven't revealed their full hand yet. It's likely those same decrepit elders behind it. But it's not time to strike back."
He smirked. "Of course, if we had a big enough distraction, we could bury the rumors entirely."
For a moment, he considered asking Uzumaki Sora of Akatsuki to stir up some chaos, or even simply eliminate those two old fools altogether.
But for now, Sora's relations with Konoha were too useful to burn, especially with future deals involving Naruto's chakra and Kakashi's Kamui eye.
"Anyway," Yun said, patting Shisui's shoulder, "we'll wait for their next move. Then we respond."
"Unless you want me to go to Kumo and start a war right now, that'd distract everyone fast."
Shisui twitched. "That's your solution? What kind of nonsense is that?"
Then, his tone turned serious.
"There's something I've been meaning to ask you."
"Go ahead," Yun said. "You're the clan head, you have every right to know the power of your top fighter."
Shisui's eyes hardened. "Your eyesight, how bad is it now?"
Yun blinked, then laughed. "You've been holding that question in for years, haven't you?"
Shisui didn't laugh back. "Everyone has secrets, but this one might affect us all. If we're facing unknown enemies, I need to know."
"Trust, huh…" Yun murmured, remembering the night years ago when Shisui first placed his faith in him.
He closed his eyes, then opened them.
"Buzz!"
The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan flared to life.
Shisui froze.
After a long moment, he whispered, "The… Eternal Mangekyō? Impossible."
Yun's previous Mangekyō had been cross-shaped, with the powers of Amaterasu and a restorative ability.
But now, a six-pointed star encased the cross pattern.
Only one explanation existed.
The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
But that required a sibling's eyes, and Izumi had only awakened her double tomoe last month.
Yun deactivated the eyes, smiling faintly. "You're wondering about Izumi, right? Relax. I didn't take my sister's eyes."
Shisui frowned. "But the Eternal Mangekyō only manifests after transplanting another Mangekyō from a blood relative. How…?"
"I don't know," Yun said lightly. "It just happened. Naturally. Like the first time I awakened my Sharingan, one tomoe, two, three, then Mangekyō. No tragedy, no loss."
"You wanted to know my secret? Now you do."
Shisui stood there, speechless.
Someone who awakened the Mangekyō without trauma was already unheard of. But to evolve it again without any sacrifice… that defied everything the clan knew.
Yun smiled. "You know what the Eternal Eyes can do, they'll never lose sight again. Even my Susanoo is… changing."
"And believe it or not," he added, "the Eternal Mangekyō isn't the end. Its evolution has only begun. Someday, you'll see eyes beyond anything the clan has ever known."
"Beyond the Eternal…?" Shisui murmured.
Yun nodded. "Look into the clan's oldest records. Itachi found something recently, our ancestor, Indra. Maybe his eyes were something else entirely."
Then he checked the time and smiled. "Anyway, I've shared my secret. Now, I've got a dinner to get to. My students are waiting. You coming?"
Shisui shook his head with a smile. "I'll pass. That's your celebration."
"Suit yourself," Yun said. "We'll wait and see how this all unfolds."
Leaving the Naka River, Yun didn't return home. He'd already told his mother. Might as well go straight to the restaurant.
'Hmm?'
A drop of coldness hit his cheek. He looked up.
'Snow?'
It was early for the first snow of the year.
Still, he slowed his steps, enjoying it as he walked.
Then-
"Hey, I heard you have white eyes! Show us!"
"So creepy! Are you a monster?"
"How do you even see with those eyes, freak?"
Yun turned his head, recognizing the scene instantly.
'Ah… that one.'
'Hyūga Hinata being bullied.'
He smirked. 'At this age, she could probably flatten them easily, she's been sparring with Neji since she was three.'
He glanced around for a familiar flash of blond.
'Found it.'
"Hey! You jerks! Don't you dare bully Hinata! Hinata, get up and fight back!"
Naruto's voice rang out.
Hinata stood, took a stance, Gentle Fist!
Wham!
One blow sent a boy flying.
The others froze, until Sasuke drew a kunai and flung it, blocking their escape.
"Nice throw, Sasuke!" Naruto cheered.
Sasuke just smirked, pretending not to care.
But when Naruto ran over to check on Hinata, he frowned and followed, Shikamaru trailing behind lazily.
And Yun smiled faintly, watching the next generation begin.